Mother of Children killed in MH17 crash recounts her horror (Video/ Photos)

Monday, 04 August 2014 - 16:57

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The mother of the the three Australian children who died aboard Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 has told a packed Perth memorial service of the extreme pain she has experienced since their death.

Mo, Evie and Otis Maslin and their grandfather Nick Norris were returning from a holiday in Amsterdam, where their parents remained, when their plane was shot down over Ukraine.

‘When their innocent bodies were blown from the sky, I stretched my arms as high as I could and screamed for them,’ their mother, Rin Norris, told the crowd of 1,000 at Perth’s Scotch College.

The mother of three, who was reduced to tears when remembering her children and father, was speaking publicly for the first time since her and husband Anthony released a statement about the ‘hell beyond hell’ they were living through following the crash.

“Now I see them only in my head. I can’t touch them, I can’t feel their warmth. I can imagine the memory of their bodies close to mine and the love in my heart will always be open for them. My arms will always be reaching for them.”

The parents walked through a guard of honour at Paterson’s Stadium formed by the children’s friends, before letting go three large purple balloons in memory of their children

The father of the children, Anthony Maslin told service goers that his children had travelled to numerous countries around the world, cramming more into their short lives than most people do in their lifetimes.

He described his children, aged 12, 10 and 8, as ‘unblemished, innocent, perfect souls’.

A short video message from the three children to a long-time friend they were meant to meet during the holiday was screened at a service.

In the video, the three children ride their bikes through a park before telling Aunty Linda they miss her and hope to see her next year.

Mr Maslin said he found solace in the fact his three children died travelling with the ‘wisest person’ he knew, in grandfather Nick Norris.

‘Someone said they were so close, they were meant to be together,’ he said.